"The smaller of the two streams, called the Wife Falls, seemed to twist and writhe in agony, and although it was delicate and thin, it produced an uncanny sound like a woman crying or wailing in jealous rage; it seemed to reach out, even by a single thread of water, across the shark stone, to clutch at the Husband Falls. But the two streams were sundered inevitably by that unmoving rock, and even the spray that rose from the two streams did not mingle until they merged together again far below.

"The Husband Falls was quite the opposite; it was an imposing stream of water, powerful enough to pulverize rocks and pound its way into the earth. As I watched the river fall and divide into the two streams, I was overcome by a deep and pervasive sense of melancholy. It seemed as though the Wife Falls was breaking her heart as she flowed trembling and distraught, like a beautiful woman sobbing in a man's lap. Though standing safely on the bank of the river, I too trembled at this sight and was even more moved by the thought that just upstream on this same river I had bathed last night with the woman of my dreams. Perhaps it was my febrile imagination, but for a moment the Wife Falls itself was transformed into the image of the woman who haunted my memory. This image floated up in my mind only to be swallowed by the rising mist. Again it took shape in my mind only to be dashed to pieces against the rocks below and scattered like the petals of a beautiful flower. In the next moment, her image floated up again, her face, her neck, her breasts, her arms and legs floated up, then disappeared, dashed to pieces once again. Time after time, no sooner had the image shattered than she reappeared. Unable to endure the sight of this seductive vision, I was about to leap into the stream, to clasp this Wife Falls in my arms and hold her in my embrace. Just in time, however, I regained my senses and became aware of the Husband Falls flowing down with such massive dignity that the mountains shook and reverberated with the sound of its pounding. But, I thought, if the Husband Falls is so powerful and strong, why, why indeed can he not save his poor wife from her misery?